Grape Juice is Also Fruit of the Vine

Grape Jellys for sale in the Tasting Room

The grape – it’s not just for wine.  We have real grape juice for sale from local Chambourcin and Seyval Blanc grapes grown by our neighbors at Oakencroft Farm on Garth Road.  This vineyard used to produce grapes for wines but switched over several years ago to fine grape juice production.  Their challenge is to produce the juice without fermenting the juice!  The grape juice is bottled in beautiful wine bottles.  It’s a real treat and a nice alternative drink for a special dinner in your home or as “un petit cadeau” when you’re a guest.

At Stinson Farms, we’ve been making a limited amount of Grape Jelly out of our winegrapes, including some delicious Tannat from our next door neighbor, Mount Juliet Vineyards.  We are loving Tannat this fall – its one the highest resevatrol grapes so makes us feel extra healthy when we’re eating/drinking it!  Look for our 2011 Dry Tannat as well as a 2011 Tannat Port in a few years.  Its important to barrel age this grape sufficiently as it has very strong tannins.

Tray below the sorting table, full of green berries, seeds, and squished berries

We also have Cabernet Sauvignon Jelly.  Rodney, our “Cellar Rat”, says the Cabernet Sauvignon jam is great on pancakes.  Mourvedre juice is in the refrigerator waiting to clear and then it will be made into jelly. Next I hope to make some from Petit Verdot.

A Taste of Bluegrass in the Blue Ridge Mountains

It’s official: Grit City Grass + Gryffon’s Aerie pork BBQ + Stinson Wine = FUN!!!!!!!

The sky was blue, the band was amazing, and the food was delish as usual thanks to our grillmaster friend Collins Huff. We highly recommended a very cold bottle of our Rose, which pairs perfectly with pork and also sweat nasty weather. That and the Sugar Hollow White were the best sellers of the day! Yum! Thanks to everyone who came out, we certainly enjoyed having you!

  

  

Tomato Madness!

The tomato garden on a hot & hazy day

Its our favorite time of the summer – tomato season!  How are yours doing this year?  We’re having another serious dry spell, but ours are hanging in there.  I planted them further apart this summer in case of more of the same as last year – little rain.  They probably could be even further apart and be happier yet.  I’m doing the same for the tomatoes as our vineyard consultant Lucie Morton told me to do for the grapes – keep them in their own space and respect their neighbors!  That’s pretty good advise for everyone.  I know the trend has been for intensive vegetable gardening, but I don’t buy it unless you really like to water or it rains a lot.

Here are the tomatoes that are performing pretty well so far:

Health Kick – Consistent size and quality.  Good quantity.  This tomato is a determinate type that has 50% more lycopene than other tomatoes.  It’s really good for canning, but fine fresh.  I’ll definitely grow this one next year.  It’s a good example of why hybrids make sense.  The seeds are expensive  – 30 seeds for about $4.50, but I certainly don’t need that many plants each year, so I’ll save the seeds in the refrigerator.  Also, the plants could be purchased this year at Southern States and the Crozet Farmers Market.

Ripening Health Kick Tomatoes

Two other nice qualities of Health Kick:

1.  The skins peel very easily when dipped in boiling water.  Off like a jacket!

2.  There is no waste, no hard inner core or hard top.  They can be canned whole.

  

Left: Principe Borghese; Right: Chocolate Cherry

A Real Winner: The 2010 Cab Franc

We always knew our 2010 Cabernet Franc would look better with a little bit of bling around its neck!  Its pure deliciousness won a silver medal at the 2011 State Fair of Virginia.

Stinson Vineyards also took 3rd place in Overall Winery Presentation for label design – congrats to our talented designer Jonathan Greenblat.  Wait til you see what he’s dreaming up for our 2010 Meritage label!

7.23.11: A Taste of Bluegrass on The App Trail